744
AIR TRANSPORT.
O'HARE STAYS ON TOP
ONCE again O'Hare, Chicago, tops the list of US airports in
terms of air traffic movements—690,810 in 1968, compared
with 594,486 at Los Angeles International. Van Nuys,
California, was third with 567,973 movements, and Opa
Locka, Florida, fourth with 563,618.
O'Hare and Los Angeles International were also first and
second in terms of airline movements in 1968, with 628,632
and 438,386 respectively. Van Nuys led in the number of
general aviation "itinerant" movements—317,816, well over half
its total for the year.
The surge in traffic over the past decade is underlined by
the fact that IFR aircraft handled by Federal Aviation
Administration air-route traffic control centres has doubled in
the period. In 1968 the total was nearly 19.4 million, as
against 16.6 million in 1967.
RIGHT International, S May 1969
services: the failure of the two independent airlines, the
strike of staff at British United Airways (Channel Islands) in
August, and last but certainly not least the BOAC pilots'
strike from lune 16 to July 2. But for the BOAC dispute,
says the board, the number of passengers carried might have
equalled those carried in 1967, instead of showing a 1 per
cent drop.
Vehicle traffic on cross-Channel air ferries suffered badly, T
showing a 30 per cent drop (by weight of cars carried) on
the 1967 figure. This was no doubt due at least in part to
the closure by British Air Ferries, in September 1967, of
their Southampton-based routes to Cherbourg and the Channel
Islands. International cargo other than vehicles increased by
nearly 6 per cent.
Extracts from the statistics are given in the table; details for
individual airlines (other than the corporations) are expected
to be published shortly.
MORE STATISTICS AT LAST?
THE publication of traffic statistics for important routes, and
of the financial accounts of all British airlines, is expected to
be implemented by the Board of Trade before long. Mr
William Rodgers, Minister of State, Board of Trade, told the
House of Commons last week that discussions on the details
of the plan should be completed "in the next few weeks."
While most British independent airlines have been in favour
of fuller publication of traffic and financial statistics, BOAC
and BEA are believed to have been resisting the move quite
strongly, on the grounds that they will be the losers and the
independents the gainers—at any rate so far as traffic informa
tion is concerned.
The Board of Trade has been discussing its plan for well
over a year, but has been studiously avoiding any suggestion
of compulsion. The financial information which it proposes
to gather will meet requirements of the International Civil
Aviation Organisation, which the United Kingdom does not
at present meet.
1968 SCHEDULED TRAFFIC FALLS
A FALL in passengers and cargo carried by British airlines
on scheduled services in 1968, compared with 1967, is noted
by the Board of Trade in figures published last week. The
board describes the year as one of a pause in scheduled-
service growth. On non-scheduled services the picture was
brighter: capacity was 12 per cent higher than in 1967, a
year which showed an increase of only 2 per cent up on
1966. There was admittedly a decline in charter operations
during the winter months, but this may have been due in
part to the closure of two airlines, British Eagle and
Transglobe, in November. The figures for January and
February this year are not expected to confirm a declining trend
in winter charter work.
The board lists the 1968 events which hit scheduled
Voice Recorders Mandatory for Helicopters? The US
Federal Aviation Administration is proposing to make cockpit
voice recorders mandatory for helicopters operated in the
air transport category. They have been required by the FAA
for certain large transport aeroplanes since 1964. The FAA
points out that there have been four air-carrier helicopter
crashes in the USA since July, 1960.
Gatwick Noise Infringements A high rate of infringement by
jet departures from Gatwick Airport, London, of the permitted
noise level at night (102PNdB) is reported by the Board of
Trade for the fourth quarter of 1968. Of 94 departures
monitored, 13.8 per cent exceeded the permitted level. For
Heathrow the equivalent figure was 2.6 per cent of 820
departures.
VFW 614 Flight Date With the main design work on the
VFW 614 short-haul jet nearing completion and the R-R/
Snecma M.45H turbofan on test since January, Interavia
reports that the first flight is now scheduled for February 1971
with FAA certification by August 1, 1972. Options on the
VFW 614 have so far been taken by Sterling (5), Filipinas
Orient (2), Bavaria (3) and General Air (2).
Aerofiot 1968 Results Writing in the March issue of Grazh-
danskaya Aviatsiya, a deputy of the USSR Minister of Civil
Aviation, N. Bykov, states that Aerofiot carried 61 million pas
sengers in 1968. Of these, 38 million were carried during the
summer months, i.e., as many as during the whole of 1964. The
heaviest month was August when 8 million passengers were
carried—or only about 200,000 fewer than the number carried
by Aeroflot in the whole of 1958. The target for 1969 is 68
million passengers and 69,000 million passenger-kilometres, an
increase of 12 per cent on 1968.
Scheduled services
Passengers carried
(X 1,000)
Passenger-miles (millions)
Available seat-miles
(millions)
Passenger load factor (%)
Freight carried
(short tons)
Capacity short ton-miles
(x 1,000)
Overall load factor
Non-scheduled services
Capacity j.t-m. ( X 1,000)
Passengers carried
BOAC
1968
1,474
5,050
9,301
54.3
50,203
1,482,486
50.4
48,878
12.518+
% change
on 1967*
-2.7
-1.8
+4.9
58.0
+9.0
+4.0
51.5
+8.6
-8.9
BEA
1968
7,564
2.855
4,673
61.1
126,074
547.704
58.1
27,635
111,293
change
on 1967*
+2.5
+4.4
+ 3.7
60.7
+9.6
+3.7
57.3
-24.2
-16.2
Independent
airlines
1968
3,166
859
1,632
52.6
128,175
201,634
54.9
590,279
3.787,460
change
on 1967*
-7.6
-0.7
+ 1.9
54.0
-19.1
+0.7
56.4
+ 14.6
+ 17.5
Total
1968
12,204
8,765
15,608
56.2
304,452
2,231,825
52.7
666,792
3,911,271
% change
on 1967*
-0.9
+0.3
+4.2
58.4
-4.7
+3.6
53.4
+ 11.8
+ 16.0
Traffic carried by British airlines in 1968
* Load futon are actual figures for 1967.
t Excluding passengers carried on behalf of foreign
airlines.